49ers' victory over Panthers is a snorer

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, August 20, 1995

With Carolina on their field, if not necessarily on their minds, the 49ers plodded to a 17-10 victory over the expansion Panthers Saturday night in a somnolent exhibition at Candlestick Park.

Unlike last week's game in San Diego, highlighted by Steve Young's helmet-less scramble, this practice tussle had little to recommend it after Merton Hanks' fourth interception of the preseason.

Young was merely perfect this time, completing all seven of his passes for 72 yards and scoring San Francisco's first touchdown on an 8-yard run early in the second quarter.

Elvis Grbac took over for Young early in the second quarter and led the 49ers to a touchdown and a 14-3 lead in the third. After a march of 72 yards, 5-foot-7 running back Ricky Ervins ran the final 2 yards into the end zone after breaking an ankle tackle of Carolina's Shawn Price. Grbac finished with 10 completions in 15 attempts for 89 yards.

The 49ers improved to 2-2 in exhibition games with one more to go, next Saturday at Candlestick against Seattle.

There was a little drama at the end of the game, or what passes for tension in an exhibition game. After Carolina's rookie quarterback, Kerry Collins, threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Dwight Stone with 1:53 left to narrow San Francisco's lead to 17-10, the Panthers successfully recovered the onsides kick. It had bounced off the hands of the 49ers' Derrick Moore.

Collins moved the Panthers to the San Francisco 39-yard line with 1:03 remaining, when he threw a pass for Greg Clifton that was picked off by backup safety Damon Pieri at the 20. The 49ers then ran out the clock for the win.

"It was a typical preseason game," coach George Seifert said. "The ebb and flow went with the players. It was kind of fun to see some of the young guys get in there at the end and stop the team from scoring what could have been a touchdown that would have led to them winning the game. That was fun to do."

Fun, maybe, but this game was a learning experience more than anything. What the 49ers learned from this "typical preseason game," is that their run defense has the potential to be superb while their own running game is going to take time to develop.

Carolina's first 10 running plays in the first half went for 5, 0, minus-1, 0, minus-2, 1, 0, 1, 2 and 7 yards. For the game, the Panthers had 23 carries for 74 yards.

Linebackers Ken Norton and Lee Woodall each had four tackles, with Woodall getting a sack on an outside blitz. Strong safety Tim McDonald was particularly active against the run and had three tackles.

"I think Lee Woodall's played quite well throughout the season," Seifert said. "He's probably our best open-field tackler. The way he's blended in with Norton and (Gary) Plummer, the three of them, there's a bond there that's developing. He's one of the real pluses that's happened to this club."

Woodall, the 49ers' sixth-round draft choice a year ago, looks much improved as he prepares for his sophomore season. He's a more confident player and has greatly benefitted from playing alongside veteran linebackers like Norton and Plummer.

"Both of them have taken me under their wing," Woodall said. "There's always been a bond. They stay on me and teach me a lot. They let me know what to look for."

A year ago, the 49ers were No. 2 in total defense in the league and No. 6 against the run. The way the defense looks at it, there's still room for improvement.

"We definitely want to be first in rush defense," Plummer said.

Added defensive end Dennis Brown, "I think the defense is coming together. The defense as a whole has had a pretty good camp. It has to start with the run defense. I'm pleased with that."

The 49ers will eventually have Derek Loville and William Floyd as their starting backs, once Floyd returns from a sprained knee in two or three weeks. Loville ran nine times for 33 yards before leaving in the third quarter with a split lip, courtesy of the gritty infield dirt at the 'Stick.

Six other backs carried the ball Saturday night, with rookie Jamal Willis (three carries, 19 yards) and fullback Adam Walker (three for 15) looking the best of the remaining lot.

After courting him seriously in the offseason and signing him to a $328,000 contract for this season as part of a three-year deal, the 49ers seem to have cooled on Moore as a halfback candidate. He had two carries for minus-1 yard against the Panthers to go with only 12 other carries this preseason.

"We played as many backs as we ever played in one game," Seifert said. "We've got a general idea but the finishing touches have yet to be put on it. My overall feeling is it's extremely difficult to evaluate it. We've run a million combinations of players. Our offensive line's not worked together. We just don't know right now."

The 49ers will probably keep five backs this season to go with as many as six wide receivers. Because of his salary and lack of production in the preseason, Moore could be the even man out when cuts are made to 60 this Tuesday and to 53 a week from Sunday.

"I believe we have the manpower to be a sound running team," Seifert said. "As everybody knows, that's not the foundation of our attack. We still have to be sound in that area. I believe that we can be. It might be a little longer in coming."

The first half ended with Carolina's John Kasay attempting a 61-yard field goal with the wind. It fell six yards short and the 49ers left the field after 30 boring minutes with a 7-3 lead.

They took the lead on their one good drive of the half. Young led the starting offense 77 yards - with a 25-yard pass to Brent Jones the big play - to the Carolina 6-yard line. From there, Young dropped back, looked right and left, and scampered untouched into the end zone with 14:15 left in the second quarter.

Carolina responded with a 23-yard field goal by Kasay with 11:30 remaining in the half. The Panthers thumbed through their new playbook and pulled out a trick play on the drive. Wide receiver Eric Guilford lined up on the left, ran to his right and took a short pitch from quarterback Frank Reich. Guilford then pulled up and heaved a 51-yard pass to fellow wideout Willie Green at the San Francisco 11-yard line.

It was a bit of a surprise to see Carolina order up a trick play in the preseason against a divisional opponent.

"It's a situation going in where you're overmatched," Plummer said. "You want to do anything you can to be successful. It's kind of an equalizer. I'm glad we saw it in the preseason." &lt;

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